You’ve probably seen posts on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter/X with an image that, when clicked, transfers you to another website page. When you share a website page or other web-based information (or your followers do), the link preview image you’ve prepared in advance shows up on the post.
What’s a link preview image?
The clickable image that shows up on social media posts is called a link preview image.
A website URL and its supporting link preview image can link to a website Home page, a specific website page, a blog post, event, product, video, or any other web-based information that can be expressed as its own URL.
You see the full URL of any web-based page in your browser’s address bar: it starts with https://. When a reader clicks the image in your social media post, the page that corresponds to the URL is opened in the browser.
Here’s an example of a Facebook post that includes a link preview image.
Some social media platforms will show your link preview images
Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter/X all support clickable link preview images.
Instagram doesn’t support clickable link preview images. While you can paste a URL into an Instagram post as text, it doesn’t attach an image automatically and it doesn’t create a clickable link.
Pinterest allows you to add a URL to a post to make your post clickable, but you must place the image yourself. It isn’t attached automatically.
I haven’t tried other social media platforms. If you use another platform, you can try adding a URL to a post and see if it attaches an image automatically.
Start by preparing the link preview image
Several website platforms I work on have ways to designate a link preview image for your website or individual images for specific pages. You might also hear this image referred to as a social sharing image or a thumbnail image.
Squarespace
The Squarespace website builder allows you to upload a link preview image for a whole website. It’s called a social sharing image. You can also upload other link preview images for specific pages or blog posts.
My blog post, “Best practices for creating a social sharing image,” gives you tips about what to create and the size and shape that I’ve found is best for Facebook and LinkedIn.
Other website builders
Other website builders may also have a way to preset a link preview image for your website pages. If your website builder doesn’t have that option, the social media platform usually chooses one of the images from the website page. If you have a choice, you should always prepare a link preview image so you know what will show up.
Look for support articles for your website builder that describe how to place “social share” or “page thumbnail” images.
Then create your social media post
Watch the video of this procedure or read the instructions below.
Copy the URL of the item you want to share.
To find the full URL, open the page you want to share in your browser. In the browser address bar, select the full URL starting with the https://. Copy the URL; you will paste it in Step 3.
In your social media platform, create a new post.
Paste the URL as text in the body of the post.
The link preview image automatically appears for the post.
Write the rest of your post and add hashtags if needed.
Delete the copied URL to clean up the post. The link preview image, now that it has been generated, shouldn’t disappear. If it does disappear on the social media platform you’re using, paste the URL back in the post.
Publish the social media post.
A clickable link preview image will be shown for social media platforms that support it.
It’s important to create link preview images that show up when you promote your website pages on supported social media platforms. Having a preview image makes your post visually appealing and makes it easier for your readers to go to the website page you’d like them to visit. That means you’ve covered your design and marketing tasks in one fell swoop!
